


Watching in the Dark

by Beleriandings



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2013-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-27 02:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Melian finds the Children fascinating, but one in particular.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watching in the Dark

The gardens of Lorien had been perfect, bright and flawless and uplifting. They were her home. And yet… and yet she could not help but love the forests of Middle Earth under the stars, with their wildness and their thick curtains of heavy shadows. They made her melancholy in her favourite way, made her feel as if they always hid more secrets. She travelled, alone but never lonely, drinking it all in. She felt the texture of the bark of every tree and investigating the source of every bird call.

It was on one of her journeys that she first saw the Children. She found them fascinating, and at times she would simply watch them, observing their customs, listening to their speech. They were so fragile, she thought. It was too easy for them to get hurt, to be killed by accident, or for the Darkness to take them. When they started to leave, she was glad of it. They would be safe under the guard of the Valar. And if she ever chose to go back to Lorien, she could still see them, safe and happy in their new home in the light.

And yet it was in the dark that she met Elwë. The forest was quiet, and she loved the shade and the silence. But he was so bright, with his silver hair and his clear, ringing laugh as he joked with his brothers, full of tentative hope. She saw him wander alone into a clearing, and curiosity at last overcame her. She made for herself a form that his eyes could see. She hoped that he would find this form beautiful, and would not fear her, but it struck her that she knew so very little about how their minds worked, or what they thought of anything at all.

Neither could describe clearly afterwards what had passed between them, the first time they met. They could not quite fit it into the constraints of words, because there had been no words. They had spoken for a long while simply in their minds, exchanging abstract ideas, images, snatches of memory. The only words she could afterwards remember crossing her mind were _I love you. I can protect you from the dark. I will protect you._ And that was what she did.

But she did more than that. Her protection extended to their land in the forest she loved, to his people. To their daughter. It was an _effort_ , maintaining the Girdle against the darkness. It required mental and physical strength, all of the time, and even when she slept, part of her held the protecting barrier around their fortress, even as the rest of her mind dreamed. Sometimes it came close to defeating her. A black mist appeared before her eyes, her head spinning and pounding, the corporeal form she had taken betraying her. But at these moments, she would think of her Elu, and cradle Lúthien in her arms, and she would whisper the words again: _I love you. I can protect you from the dark. I will protect you._ She said them to herself, over and over, until the strength she needed returned, and the darkness did not seem so black anymore.


End file.
